


Kiss me, Mr Hart!

by BakaDoll



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Gymnast!Eggsy, Hartwin, M/M, Percilot - Freeform, Roxlin - Freeform, Student!Eggsy, Teacher!Harry, Teacher-Student Relationship, a bit of angst, both as sidepairings, only slight underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7178582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakaDoll/pseuds/BakaDoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eggsy's had a crush on his teacher for ages, and he always knew he should just stay silent about it, but when the time comes for him to graduate he panics and does something stupid.<br/>And he might have just fucked it all up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss me, Mr Hart!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azilver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azilver/gifts).



Eggsy was 16, visited the public school nearest to his home, and about every second day his teachers told him how he would never achieve anything in his life.

Granted, he didn't give much on school or homework and got himself into a lot of trouble, be it in school or afterwards. But still, hearing this wasn't what would give a 16-year-old any motivation to put more effort into school, which was why he never really was a good student.

Except in two subjects.

He always had an A in all exams in his English and P.E. classes, and never skipped them. He even sat in the first row in English and always ran the fastest, scored the most goals or jumped the highest in P.E..

That might be thanks to the teacher.

No. It was definitely the teacher.

Mr Hart taught Eggsy's class in those two subjects and he was the kindest and most patient teacher of them all. He never told Eggsy that he wouldn't succeed in life. Mr Hart encouraged him to try harder and to do the things he could do well and which were fun to Eggsy.

Eggsy even had an edition of Shakespeare's _Much ado about nothing_ stashed under his mattress because Mr Hart had actually made this play fun in class. He kept it under his mattress because, honestly, with Dean in the flat it was more acceptable to have a stack of boob magazines lying around in his room rather than an edition of one of Shakespeare's plays.  
At least that 'makes a man out of him' Dean always said.

Another thing was gymnastics. Eggsy had always loved gymnastics, but he had to stop when he turned 13 because Dean wouldn't stop going on about what a sissy he was for doing 'girl's sport'.  
His mum had always tried to defend Eggsy and his hobby but at some point Eggsy couldn't take the fights his mum and Dean had every Tuesday and Thursday, when Eggsy had come home from training. So he quit.

He never told his classmates that he did gymnastics, so no one except Jamal and Ryan knew about it. Which was probably why Mr Hart nearly lost it in this P.E. lesson.

They were doing some floor exercises in groups of two or three, with one student doing the exercise and the partners helping.

"Eggsy," Mr Hart said with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face when he walked past Eggsy, Jamal and Ryan. Eggsy's friends just looked up with an uninterested expression on their faces, from where they were seated on the floor next to the mat where Eggsy was currently doing his exercises. He didn't need help due to his prior training, so they just sat there and watched him.

"...y-yeah?" Eggsy stuttered anxiously. Had he done something wrong? He had done exactly what Mr Hart had told them to do, hadn't he?

"That was...impressive."

Eggsy and Mr Hart stared at each other for a few seconds and Eggsy could feel the fluttering feeling of excitement in his belly.

"W-Was it?" Eggsy asked while his shoulders straightened and he felt his cheeks start burning.  
Ryan and Jamal only rolled their eyes at Eggsy; it was always the same with their friend, Eggsy basically _lived_ for Mr Hart's approval.

"It certainly was. Do you have any gymnastics training?"

"Uhh, no," the lie was out before Eggsy could think about it and Ryan and Jamal raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. Christ, why did he lie to Mr Hart? It was just such a trained lie, literally beat into his head by Dean: don't tell people you do something as embarrassing as gymnastics or they'll think you're a sissy, or worse: gay.

The lie made Eggsy blush even more and he let his head sink in shame. He didn't want to lie to Mr Hart, but it was too late now.

"Well you should definitely think about it then, Eggsy, you're a natural. This was a perfect back handspring and your posture was fantastic," Mr Hart smiled at Eggsy, apparently not noticing Eggsy's shame.

Eggsy only nodded and mumbled something that sounded like 'I will' before Mr Hart went on to check on the other students.

"Dude, what was tha'?", Ryan asked when Mr Hart was out of earshot.

"I dunno, bruv, I panicked," Eggsy said and let himself sink down on the mat with a groan.

"Ya're the worst, Eggsy," Jamal said in an unimpressed voice, "Ya act like an idiot 'round Mr Hart."

"Thanks, Jamal, tha's helpin'," Eggsy grumbled in response and shot an angry look over at Jamal who just grinned in return.

That night, Eggsy might have spent a while longer than usually in the shower, remembering the impressed and proud impression on Mr Hart's face when he had looked at Eggsy today.

***

A bit over a year and a half later Eggsy graduated from school.

He was at their graduation party, just like all the other students from his year, and all teachers that had taught them through the years.

Eggsy would turn 18 in a few weeks and he really wished he was already, because then he could drink some of the good stuff; now he had to settle for all the alcohol free drinks.

Luckily Jamal was 18 and could sneak Eggsy and Ryan a drink every now and then, when none of the teachers were looking. But at some point of the evening both Jamal and Ryan were busy either making out or heavily flirting with some girls, which left Eggsy to himself and without a proper drink. Great.

With a frustrated huff Eggsy sat down on a bar chair and studied the non-alcoholic drinks he could order, mumbling to himself how unfair it was that he couldn't even get a beer just because he was a few weeks away from his 18th birthday.

A laugh next to him made him look up and he saw Mr Hart sitting next to him, grinning amused.

"What?" Eggsy asked and tried to act annoyed, but he couldn't stop the grin forming on his lips.

"You seem very frustrated by the British law," Mr Hart said and Eggsy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. 's just stupid I ain't allowed ta drink a fuckin' beer jus' cos I'm 17. I mean, I turn 18 in a few weeks. Don' see the problem."

"Well, that didn't stop you from drinking those drinks Jamal gave you, did it?" Mr Hart asked, grinning even wider at Eggsy who looked a bit shocked at first, then amused.

"Well, yeah, ya don' look a gift horse in the mouth, do ya?" Eggsy answered.

Mr Hart laughed at that and Eggsy looked back at the menu, he still had to choose a drink. One of the bartenders came over to them now and asked Mr Hart and Eggsy if they wanted anything.

"Nah, bruv, I still gotta choose sumfin'," Eggsy said, while Mr Hart gave the man his order.

"This is hard, this all sounds stupid," Eggsy groaned.

"I'm sure you'll find something you like. In the meantime, let me invite you to a drink. Take it as a present for graduating," Mr Hart said and Eggsy looked up in confusion.

Mr Hart put one of the glasses the bartender just brought in front of Eggsy and Eggsy had to look twice to be sure it was beer. He looked at Mr Hart, bewilderment showing on his face.

"If you don't want it you don't have to drink it," Mr Hart said but Eggsy immediately shook his head.

"No! I mean, er, thanks, jus' didn' think my teacher would gimme a beer."

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth, as you put it so well. Also, ex-teacher now, Eggsy," Mr Hart said with a smile, making Eggsy grin in return.

"Yeah, well, cheers then!"

The two of them spent the rest of the evening together at the bar, though Eggsy was a bit disappointed that Mr Hart wouldn't allow him to drink another beer. Sometimes Jamal or Ryan came over to look for Eggsy but they soon noticed his friend was happy chatting with their ex-teacher. No wonder, after all Eggsy had had a crush on Mr Hart forever now, and Jamal and Ryan knew about that, so they left them alone.

Most people were already gone when Eggsy looked at his watch and groaned quietly.

"Fuck. It's so late already? I gotta go home, my lil sister's babysitter 's gonna be mad anyway," he said and jumped off his chair.

"I think I will join you, it really is late," Mr Hart agreed and got off his chair too.

They both went to grab their coats from the cloakroom and left the building. A cold breeze made Eggsy wrap his coat a bit firmer around himself as he walked over to the bus stop right in front of the school building - and groaned in frustration.

"Oh, fuck me sideways," he said.

"What is it?" Mr Hart asked and stepped behind him.

"There ain't no busses anymo', the last one left an hour ago," Eggsy lightly kicked the pole on which the busses' schedule was fixed.

"Oh, really?" Eggsy could feel Mr Hart's breath on his cheek as he leaned in and looked over Eggsy's shoulder to read the timetable. The rich smell of Mr Hart's perfume, mixed with a slight hint of beer and the heat of his body Eggsy could feel through all those layers of clothing made Eggsy's mouth water and his cheeks burn. God, this was torture.

"Indeed, the last bus is already gone... How far away do you live?"

Eggsy nearly stumbled backwards when Mr Hart stood up straight again, because Eggsy's body decided to lean back so he wouldn't lose the enticing heat of the body that had brought Eggsy more than a few sleepless nights.

"Uhh....It's uh, it's just a twenty minute walk or sumfin'," Eggsy answered quickly and turned around to look at Mr Hart.

"Twenty minutes? It's late at night and dark Eggsy, I won't let you walk that on your own," Mr Hart frowned and a concerned look started to spread on his face, "I will walk you home."

He wanted to do _what_? Eggsy was a bit offended at first, he was very capable of getting home on his own, thank you very much.  
But after a second he was really touched that Mr Hart cared enough for him to go through the trouble of walking Eggsy home, just to be sure that he would arrive safely. Also, it meant he would be able to spent twenty more minutes with him.

"...Aight," Eggsy said and so the two of them started their way to Eggsy's flat.

"You know, I really enjoyed your lessons," Eggsy said after a few minutes of walking in silence and looked over at Mr Hart, "They were fun. Ya were a good teacher."

The smile that spread on Mr Hart's face was just adorable. He looked sincerely happy that Eggsy had enjoyed his classes and the smile made the skin around his eyes wrinkle a bit, making him look even more gorgeous to Eggsy. It also made Eggsy wonder how old his teacher was, he didn't know exactly, but he guessed he was somewhere in his mid-thirties, maybe a bit older.

A lot of people would call it disgusting or even sick that Eggsy was so head over heels for his much older teacher, but he really couldn't care less. Those people could go and extract that stick from their arses.

"I'm very happy you enjoyed those classes, Eggsy," Mr Hart said, "It means a lot to me when my students think that."

Eggsy smiled at Mr Hart and enjoyed his happy expression for a few more moments. The rest of the walk they just chatted about trivial things, but it still was the most pleasant walk home from school Eggsy had ever had.

Sadly, it was also way too short for his liking, too soon they arrived in front of the big building he lived in.

"So...Do ya live near? Or how are ya gonna get home?" Eggsy asked as he faced Mr Hart, who answered by shaking his head.

"No, I will just order a cab," he said and got his mobile from his trousers' pockets to dial the cab company's number. Eggsy watched as Mr Hart talked to the person on the other end of the phone and ordered his cab, and that's when realisation hit him: This would be the last time he would see Mr Hart. He was finished with school, he already had his certificate and therefore no reason to return to school. It made Eggsy's stomach feel like there were about a ton of stones inside.

When Mr Hart ended the call and made a move to say his last good bye to Eggsy, he could feel panic rising in his body.

"Y'know, ya could come upstairs 'n wait for yer cab there. Ya don' need to stand 'round on the street in the middle of the night, especially not in this kinda neighbourhood."  
It was a cheap attempt at buying more time with Mr Hart, but every minute more was like a gift to Eggsy. He couldn't bear the thought to never see the man again.

At first Mr Hart seemed surprised by the invitation but then he actually considered it.

"Yes, why not," he finally said with a shrug, "It shouldn't be too long until it's here anyway."

Eggsy nodded and turned around to walk up the stairs, quicker than usual, so Mr Hart wouldn't have the time to change his mind on the way to the flat.

He fumbled with the keys to open the door but before he even got the key in the hole the door was opened from inside and Eggsy stared at the very angry face of his little sister's babysitter.

"Eggsy! Christ, there you finally are, you're two hours late, I thought you would _never_ come home," her voice was shrill and loud and Eggsy was honestly afraid she would wake Daisy, or the whole neighbourhood for that matter, up.

"Yes, I kno', I'm sorry Carla," he said quietly, "I jus' forgot the time, I'm really sorry."

Carla was just about to start another rant when she spotted the man behind Eggsy and raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Who's that?"

Eggsy could see in her face that she was actually considering if Eggsy was a rent boy and Mr Hart his customer, which made him incredibly angry. How could she dare to think something like that of Mr Hart?

"Tha's my teacher," he explained and Carla looked surprised, "He brought me home cos it's late 'n now he'll wait fo' a cab here."

"Oh. Okay," was everything Carla had to say about that, but she still warily eyed Mr Hart before she finally went to put on her shoes and coat and grab her purse.

"I'll let your parents know that you were late," she said while walking past them.

"Dean's not my Dad," Eggsy corrected.

"Yeah, alright, your Mum and her boyfriend, whatever," Carla just rolled her eyes at Eggsy and put one of her earphones in before she said a quick good bye and left.

Eggsy closed the door behind her and sighed exasperated. This girl was so unbelievably annoying. But she was the cheapest babysitter they could find and Dean liked her - mostly because she was disgustingly flirty towards him. Gross.

"Sorry," he said to Mr Hart now, "That was my lil sister's annoyin' babysitter."

Mr Hart just smiled and shook his head, signalling Eggsy it was all right.

"Ya want a drink? Oh yeah, ya can take off yer coat 'n shoes if ya want or ya can leave 'em on, doesn' matter," Eggsy said as he kicked off his own sneakers, threw his coat somewhere in the direction of the coat rack and walked towards the kitchen.

"A drink would be lovely," Mr Hart said and watched Eggsy just throwing his things in the vague direction of where they belonged, slight confusion showing on his face, before he took off his coat and followed Eggsy to the kitchen.

"Okay, we got..." Eggsy opened the fridge, looked inside for a few moments and closed it again.

"Tea?" he asked while he opened a cupboard and took a box of PG Tips out.

"Yes, please," Eggsy didn't miss the amused tone in Mr Hart's voice and to be perfectly honest he was a bit embarrassed about the lack of drinks. At least non-alcoholic drinks.

A few minutes later they both had a steaming cup in front of them and a few biscuits Eggsy had found in another cupboard.

Eggsy nearly jumped when the doorbell rang about twenty minutes later, he hadn't even noticed how fast the time flew by while they were talking over their teas.

"That's probably my cab," Mr Hart said and got up from his chair to go to the hall and put his coat on. Eggsy went after him and again he felt panic rising in him. That was it, his last few minutes with Mr Hart were over and he would never see him again.

"Well, I guess this means good bye now, Eggsy"

Never again.

"I really enjoyed being your teacher, you were a very ambitious student. I'm sure I will miss you."

_Never again._

The next few seconds could only be described as a kneejerk reaction.

Without thinking Eggsy made two steps towards Mr Hart and before he could back off Eggsy grabbed his lapels and pulled him close.

The next thing he actually realised again was the taste of beer and tea and Mr Hart's warm breath on his face.

Eggsy felt how Mr Hart froze and as in reflex he grabbed his lapels even harder. There was an emotional chaos going on in his head; he was afraid to anger or alienate Mr Hart or that he would even be repulsed by him. But at the same time it was such a good and liberating feeling to finally kiss his teacher. He had waited so long for this moment, even though he had imagined it a bit different. Maybe a bit more romantic and a bit less desperate.

Eggsy felt his stomach tingle and he made another step towards Mr Hart, then he turned his head a bit to get a better angle to kiss him.

When Eggsy felt the light touch of Mr Hart's hands on his waist he mentally prepared himself to be shoved away since Mr Hart finally seemed to snap back out of his state of shock.

What he did not prepare for was being pushed against the wall with Mr Hart's whole body. The air left his lungs with a quiet, shocked grunt when his back hit the wall and Eggsy's head began to spin even faster.

What was happening all of a sudden? Was he dreaming? No, he could clearly feel the heat of Mr Hart's body against his; this was real.  
Suddenly Eggsy felt hot and cold at the same time, his knees turned as soft as butter in the sun and when Mr Hart started to return the kiss a small moan left his throat. His wildest dreams were coming true right in this moment, after he had already labelled them as eternal wishful thinking.

Slowly Eggsy started to collect himself again. As soon as his brain had finally processed the situation at least partly, he wrapped his arms around Mr Hart's neck and pressed his body against that of his teacher. He could feel the hands on his waist slowly wandering on his back and then pressing him against Mr Hart's body too. Without the wall in his back Eggsy could move again, though to be honest, being pressed against Mr Hart's body like that was nearly more restricting than being pressed against the wall - but he was more than willing to work with that restriction.

Carefully he made his way backwards down the hall, step by step towards his room, without even once letting go off Mr Hart.

It took them long until Eggsy could feel the room's door in his back and he blindly felt for the handle. While doing that he pushed a lamp over, but right after that he found the handle, opened the door and stumbled backwards into his room.

A second after the lamp hit the floor a shrill child's scream could be heard - Daisy had been woken up by the noise and got scared.  
But worse, Mr Hart was still standing in the hall, frozen to the spot as if he had been turned to stone, instead of entering the room with Eggsy. He stared at the boy, shock written all over his face, and Eggsy felt his heart sink. This wasn't good.

Uncomfortable silence stretched between them, the only thing to be heard was Daisy's screaming in the background.

".....I..should go." Mr Hart turned on his heel and it took Eggsy a second to react.

"Wait!" He blurted out and followed Mr Hart, "Don't-"

"This shouldn't have happened, Eggsy. This was irresponsible, I'm your teacher," Mr Hart said, shaking his head without looking at Eggsy, while grabbing his coat off the rack.

"You're not my teacher anymore, I graduated!"

"You are _underage_ , Eggsy. You're seventeen."

"So what? I'll turn eighteen in a few weeks, what difference does it make?"

Eggsy felt desperation creeping up inside him. He blew it, Mr Hart would leave, forever, and he would never get another chance.

"What difference? You're right, it doesn't make a difference," when Mr Hart said that Eggsy looked dumbfounded but he felt relieved. Until Mr Hart talked again.

"It doesn't matter if you're seventeen or eighteen, either way you are too young and this was a huge mistake I should have avoided. I'm sorry, Eggsy. This is my fault, I should have reacted accordingly."

Eggsy shook his head, tears filling his eyes which he tried to force back, but failed.

"Please don't go. I don't care 'bout the age gap, it could work!", Eggsy begged, then let out a heart-wrenching sob.

Mr Hart turned to look at Eggsy. His expression was full of guilt and regret.

"I'm sorry Eggsy, I really am. Please forget this. Forget me. You're young, you'll find someone who is right for you... Good bye." And without another word Mr Hart left the flat. And Eggsy.

Tears rolled down Eggsy's face and he stared at the door, desperate and feeling lonelier than he ever did before. Only Daisy's crying brought him back from his trance-like state after a while and he went to calm his little sister and himself down.

***

"So, who else is gonna come?"

Eggsy placed two beers on the table, one in front of his own seat, the other in front of Roxy. Getting alcohol was no problem for him anymore - not at the age of 26.

"Percival and James will come. And Merlin's best friend from uni days," Roxy told Eggsy and took a sip of her beer.

"So another tech freak, jus' like yer boyfriend?" Eggsy asked teasingly and Roxy stuck out her tongue in response.

"No. They were in different departments, his best friend became a teacher, but don't ask me which subjects he teaches. I forgot."

It was Merlin's birthday party. Well, not really a party, it was more of a get-together with his girlfriend Roxy, Roxy's best friend Eggsy, her uncle Percival, his husband James and Merlin's teacher-best-friend. Eggsy had met Percival and James a few times, Percival was a bit quiet but they were both nice. And him and Merlin got along pretty well too, so he wasn't too worried about that new guy. Eggsy usually got along well with people.

Him and Roxy were in the middle of a conversation when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Merlin announced from the kitchen and went to open the door. He arrived in the living room a few minutes later with a man at his side, while Eggsy was laughing about some stupid joke Roxy had made.

"I guess I don't need to introduce you to Roxy, Harry, but that young man over there is Eggsy, Roxy's best mate," Merlin said to his friend.

Eggsy turned around on his chair and smiled at the man. The strangely familiar man. Where did he see that face already?

"Hi, nice ta meet ya," he said, but he got no response. Except a shocked look.

"......Eggsy?" The man brought out finally.

Eggsy tilted his head a bit, looking at the man who seemed to know him. So he _did_ meet that guy before. But where?

".....Mr Hart?" Eggsy's mouth fell open when he finally realised who was standing in front of him. No way. That couldn't possibly be his old teacher.

"You know each other?" Merlin asked confused.

"Eggsy, you're gaping," Roxy informed him while laughing, even though she seemed pretty confused herself.

"Well, yeah, didn' expect ta see my old English 'n P.E. teacher today," Eggsy said in response and quickly threw a glance over to Roxy, then back to his former teacher and Merlin.

How could he not have remembered him? Sure, he grew older, but so had Eggsy; after all they hadn't seen each other in nine years. But he was still the same gorgeous motherfucker he had been nine years ago, if not even more. Fuck.

"What? Your teacher?" Roxy asked surprised, then she started laughing.

"What a coincidence," Merlin remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"True," Eggsy agreed, "Eh. Well. Hi, nice ta see ya again, Mr Hart."

Mr Hart nodded at Eggsy and a small smile formed on his lips.

"Indeed. But, please, I have been your teacher 9 years ago and now we're celebrating the birthday of a mutual friend. It would be strange if you'd call me Mr Hart the whole evening, let's go with Harry, shall we?"

"Yeah, sure, alright," Eggsy grinned at Harry and nodded eagerly.

"Anyway, I still have a lot to do, I'll be in the kitchen," Merlin announced and turned around to go back.

"I'll help you," Harry offered immediately and followed a very wary looking Merlin. Not even a second after the men had left the room Roxy turned to Eggsy and grabbed his upper arm.

"Don't tell me he is _that_ English and P.E. teacher?!" She whispered.

"He is," Eggsy answered and looked at Roxy in a mix of shock and disbelief.

Roxy started laughing again while Eggsy groaned and combed a hand through his hair. The world hated him. It really did. This was so embarrassing. But the worst part was that as soon as he had realised who was standing in front of him Eggsy had felt his old feelings boiling up again. Not that he was in love again or anything, but honestly, he would tap that.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Merlin was preparing some snacks, while Harry was nervously pacing up and down the room. After a few minutes Merlin let the knife sink with a frustrated noise and looked over his shoulder.

"Christ, Harry, either you actually do help me or leave the kitchen, please, you're driving me insane!"

Harry froze on the spot and looked over to his friend.

"I'm driving you insane? How do you think I feel right now?" Harry looked like he was about to go up the wall so Merlin turned around so he was facing Harry, slowly raised an eyebrow, leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

"What's your problem?"

"What's my- Are you serious?" Harry asked, but Merlin looked very serious about his question. How could he not see Harry's problem??

"Are you like this because he's a former student of yours? That's a bit over the top, don't you think Harry? He seems happy to see you again. And I thought you liked your students," Merlin said in an unimpressed voice and was about to turn back to his snacks, but Harry wouldn't let him.

"...Doesn't the name Eggsy Unwin ring a bell for you, Merlin?"

Merlin shrugged. "Sure. He's Roxy's best friend, but other than that..."

Both of them were silent for a minute and just looked at each other until suddenly Merlin's eyes widened and he let his arms sink.

"Wait. He's not... Is he?? The boy who kissed you?"

"The boy _I kissed back_ ," Harry groaned and hid his face behind both his hands, "This can't be happening."

Suddenly Merlin started laughing and Harry looked at him very confused, then very angry.

"This is not funny, Merlin. I risked my job and a charge back then."

"Oh it is funny," Merlin laughed, "And yes, exactly, back then. Eggsy is twenty-six now, Harry."

"He _cried_ when I left."

"I'm sure he's over that by now. It's been nine years and he's a grown man now, why would he still be upset about a stupid crush on his teacher? And even if he was - could be good for you."

Merlin turned back to his snacks he prepared but he clearly saw Harry's confused face.

"Excuse me?"

"Go for it. The boy is pretty and single and I know he's been crying about the latter to Roxy for ever now," Merlin said while cutting some tomatoes.

"Are you insane, Merlin? Eggsy is 26!" Harry couldn't believe what his best friend was telling him. Eggsy was his former student he had already kissed when he was 17, which he regretted to this day, and now Merlin told him to woo him? What was wrong with Merlin?

"So what? My girlfriend is 25, are you trying to tell me something?" Merlin shot a wary look over his shoulder at Harry who in return just pressed his lips to a thin line.

No, he didn't see a problem with Merlin's and Roxy's relationship. They were both adults and happy with it. But they had met when Roxy had been 23 already, through her uncle Percival, and they hadn't kissed when Roxy was still underage.

"You're unbelievable," Harry murmured and shook his head; then he grabbed a knife and started to help Merlin with his preparations.

The evening was surprisingly nice. Percival and James had arrived a while after Harry and the group was sat in the living room, talking and laughing, and even between Harry and Eggsy it was comfortable and casual; Eggsy really didn't seem to mind what happened nine years ago anymore. Actually, Harry even felt like Eggsy was... flirting with him sometimes. But he was sure he was just imagining things.

"What are you doing now, anyway? As an occupation, I mean. I just realised I haven't asked yet," Harry asked Eggsy with a warm smile on his face. He really wanted to know what Eggsy had made of his life after he left school.

"Me? I'm a professional gymnast," Eggsy answered and Harry looked really surprised by that.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Eggsy laughed when he saw Harry's amazed face, "Guess the other teachers were wrong when they thought I'd end up dealin' drugs."

"Yes!" Suddenly Roxy chimed in and both men looked at her, "Eggsy's really good at it too. And fit like hell. I like watching him doing his training - especially when he does it without a shirt on."

Eggsy and Harry both looked dumbfounded at that while from the other end of the table one could hear Merlin snorting. Those two utter pricks. Harry knew exactly what they were trying to do.

"Anyway..." Eggsy said and stretched the word, then looked over at Harry again, "I really-"

"He can do a split, too. It's impressive," Roxy interrupted him with the most innocent smile, but Eggsy frowned at her.

"Yeah, thank ya, Rox," he said and sounded pretty irritated because other than Harry, he didn't know at all what was going on. Meanwhile Harry still cursed Roxy and Merlin internally.

"And Eggsy's really strong, he can-" This time it was Eggsy who interrupted Roxy, a bit red in his face from embarrassment.

"Christ, Rox, wha's goin' on wif ya? Go talk wif yer uncle or sumfin'," he made a gesture towards Percival who just grinned silently and then looked back over to his husband whom he had been talking to.

Sadly Roxy didn't do as she was told. Her and Merlin both kept on making strange remarks about either Eggsy or Harry and at some point even Percival and James joined in - though those two probably only did so because they found it funny how irritated Eggsy and Harry were by it.

The evening still went by too fast and soon everyone except Eggsy was gone. He helped tidying up a bit, but at some point Merlin said he would do the rest the next day. Him and Roxy went to the door with Eggsy to say good bye, but suddenly Merlin stopped him.

"Oh, wait Eggsy. I've got something for you, lad." Merlin walked into the kitchen and came back a few seconds later with a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled something on the paper, then gave it to Eggsy.

Eggsy took a look at it and frowned. "Wha's that?"

"Harry's phone number," Merlin said with a sly grin and watched Eggsy's head shoot up and his cheeks turn a deep shade of pink.

"What? What for?"

"For calling him, of course. Or texting, whichever you prefer," Merlin said as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Which it certainly wasn't to Eggsy.

"Why should I call him? Tha's nonsense," Eggsy shook his head and tried to hand the paper back to Merlin, but he just pushed Eggsy's hand back.

"Don't be like that, lad, take your chance."

"At least try it, Eggsy! The worst that could happen is that Harry says no, and you're not seventeen anymore, you will survive it," Roxy said and smiled encouragingly at her best friend.

Eggsy shook his head again, this time about Roxy and Merlin. Those two were unbelievable.

He knew he wouldn't win this fight, so he just surrendered, took the piece of paper and went home, with no intention of actually calling or texting Harry.

***

"Move over, ya're takin' up the whole bed again, I'm gonna fall out," Eggsy mumbled tiredly into his pillow.

It was 3am and he really needed to get enough sleep; there was an important gymnastics competition in the morning that might get him a bit closer to his dream of competing in the Olympics, but he was lying right at the edge of the bed and the only thing keeping him from falling right out were two arms which were tightly wrapped around his waist and pressed him against the warm body behind him.

"Sorry, sorry," Harry mumbled and shuffled back a bit, pulling Eggsy with him. He buried his nose in Eggsy's hair and sighed contently.

"If I'm gon' lose that competition tomorrow it's your fault," Eggsy muttered.

"It's not," Harry said and gently pinched Eggsy's stomach in response.

"It is. 'n then I'll never compete at the Olympics, cos I ain't gettin' younger."

"Eggsy, you're thirty," Harry yawned, "You still got plenty of time."

"Thirty is like the eighty of gymnastics," Eggsy argued and Harry groaned at that.

"Shut up and sleep," Harry demanded. He pulled Eggsy closer and placed a soft kiss in his neck to shut him up, which worked surprisingly well.  
Eggsy only accused him once more of endangering his career before he whispered a good night and placed his hand on Harry's, feeling the metal band on his finger. With a warm smile on his lips Eggsy fell asleep, safely wrapped in the arms of his husband.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story! I'm always happy to talk to y'all on [my tumblr](http://agent-eggy.tumblr.com/) or [my twitter](https://twitter.com/_bakadoll)! ♥


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